Water-based emulsions leading to high opacity films and coatings are of interest for applications in various fields such as paints, inks, automotive coatings, fillers, etc. where hiding or opacity is required. In order to improve opacity in polymer emulsions, various approaches have been suggested such as incorporating inorganic materials (titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, etc.) within the polymer or incorporation of air domains (hollow spheres) within the polymer particle to incorporate contrast of refractive indexes within the coating materials.